''Trematolobelia singularis'', the lavaslope false lobelia, is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, where it is known only from the Koʻolau Range on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

. It is threatened by the degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

of the United States. This Hawaiian lobelioid is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

with an unbranched stem growing up to 1.5 meters tall. The leaves are long and narrow, measuring up to 18 centimeters long by 1.8 wide. The tubular flower has violet petals up to 5 centimeters long that flare open at the mouth of the tube. The fruit is a rounded capsule containing seeds which are dispersed on the wind.USFWS
Determination of endangered status for twenty-five plant species from the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
''Federal Register'' October 10, 1996. The plant grows in wet, windy habitat on high ridges in the Koʻolau Mountains. As of 2009 there were four populations of this plant totalling about 133 mature adults and at least 50 juveniles. Threats to these plants and their habitat include feral pigs,

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

s, and human disturbance. They face competition from

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

of plants such as Koster's curse (''Clidemia hirta'').USFWS
''Trematolobelia singularis'' Five-year Review.
July 2009.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13860145 Lobelioideae Endemic flora of Hawaii Biota of Oahu Critically endangered flora of Oceania Critically endangered flora of the United States